Most of us have at least tried to text without looking at our phones before. I confess to having shot off a quick message while stopped at a red light, or immediately following crazy goals and tackles at soccer matches, or even from the confines of my pocket at parties.

By using the six-key Braille configuration, the keyboard actually fits on the touch screen, allowing users to hold their devices with their palms, thumbs, or pinkies while the screens face away from them.

"BrailleTouch is an out-of-the-box solution that will work with smartphones and tablets and allow users to start learning the Braille alphabet in a few minutes," Mario Romero, the project's principal investigator, said in a news release. "It also reduces the need for expensive proprietary Braille keyboard devices, which typically cost thousands of dollars."

Whether the masses will take the time to learn to type the Braille alphabet (Romero says they don't have to learn to read it, and that people can learn to type it in a matter of minutes) remains to be seen, but those who do may eventually find that they are able to type up to 32 words per minute with 92 percent accuracy, according to early studies with visually impaired participants proficient in Braille typing.

The app has already won the MobileHCI 2011 competition for design in Stockholm, in the fall of 2011. The Georgia Tech team has developed iPhone and iPad versions of BrailleTouch and says Android versions are next. BrailleTouch is currently being demonstrated at the Abilities Expo-Atlanta 2012 this weekend.

About the author

Elizabeth Armstrong Moore is based in Portland, Oregon, and has written for Wired, The Christian Science Monitor, and public radio. Her semi-obscure hobbies include climbing, billiards, board games that take up a lot of space, and piano.
See full bio